Saturday, January 31, 2009

The above was the headline of the paper here in Hamburg on Thursday, love.

There are a few things here that I especially like. Timed light switches that turn themselves off after a certain amount of time to save energy. Two buttons on the toilet that are for different amounts of water to flush your #1 or #2 down. And of course the availability yummy things around every corner. Just received a call from Dirk who works at Deutschalandradio Kultur (seems somewhat similar to npr) who is meeting me in an hour to do an interview for a show he is producing on craft. Pretty rad.

Here are some selected photos from my screening of Handmade Nation at Kampnagel and walks around town..... the rest of the photos are here.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

I think this trip may have already romanced me into wanting to move overseas. Even though I have traveled so much, I think this trip, and the timing, may have opened new idea trap doors in my mind. Who knows I suppose. I've been at the theater all day doing AV checks and watching people arrive for the program. There is a band from Paris, artists from London, the ladies from Chicks on Speed from Germany and Barcelona and the photographer Wolf from Vienna. It is really amazing to get to be a part of this event and meet all new folks who are doing incredible work. AND to my relief my film plays properly, which was a in the back of my head concern until the AV check today. Countdown two hours until the program starts. I'm glad I feel well rested after my xanax induced exhausted jet lagged sleep last night.

It's time for a German beer and if you are interested read this article passed along to me via artist Orly Cogan (who I get to do a studio visit with in NY, I can't wait), is pretty interesting.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

I had no idea that Gingko was based out of San Francisco and Hamburg. Alex, one of the ladies in Chicks On Speed that is responsible for bringing me here to Hamburg got connected with Mo the owner (?) through a mutual friend. Mo offered up the corporate apartment which is in this amazing building (second photo). I was planning on staying with Nadine and Melissa where we had dinner tonight, however, there was extra room here so here I stay.Sydney & Noodles

Stopped into Kampnagel to check out the space, the building is insane and there was this amazing little shanty type community out back with a little dream house I'd like to ship back to Milwaukee.

Time for red wine to help with my exhaustion. The clock on my computer reads 3:31pm and the clock here reads 10:37pm. I have no idea how tired I am or if I am hungry or full or neither.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

In Anaheim for the Craft & Hobby Association trade show this weekend and I had an extra day to kill before work. It just happened to be my homie Jason's 32 birthday and he just happens to love Disneyland.

The castle looked so much smaller then I had remembered.

"In 1965 Disneyland had real women in mermaid costumes floating around the submarine portholes, but the "mermaids" started getting sick from the chemicals in the water, so in 1967 Disneyland had to rely solely on it's animatronics to give guests the thrill of seeing mermaids."

Thursday, January 22, 2009

I mentioned a bit back that while in Seattle my friend Kathleen got me a Bob Dodd ring as a gift. Today she forwarded me the link to her friends shop where she picked it up. Take a bit of time to look at these beauties and learn about the maker himself. The entire website as a whole is worth checking out.

Here is mine (pulled this image from the site)

Q: What happens when you google treetent?A: You find magical structures that you want and can't have.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Kathleen, my dear friend from high school, came to my book signing in Bellevue. She brought me a gift that is so very amazing and special. Wrapped up all fancy in a box was a celluloid ring made by a man by the name of Bob Dodd. I haven't taken a good photo of my ring yet but it has 1977 on the face of it. I love it and want to eat it.

"Robert Dodd lives in Illinois and has been handcrafting celluloid rings since 1937 — that's over 70 years! These incredible, light-weight pieces are painstakingly assembled from 20-150 separate pieces of rare antique celluloid (the material was popular in the 1870s) with no molds and no glue. Heat is used to shape the plastic and acetone bonds bits together. Robert's rings are on display in the National Plastics Center & Museum in Massachusetts."More information and images here.

My Bob Dodd ring made me think of candy from papa bubble which is divine. It is highly recommended to visit one of their boutiques if you are in Barcelona, NY, Tokyo or Amsterdam. After going there I had many daydreams about custom candy I wanted to commission.

If you are in one of those cities you should pick up one of these first.

Nothing like a bottle of wine imported from your dad's favorite winery out West to keep you warm on a below zero night home in Milwuakee.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Some things I can't forget from the past few hours before I slumber .....

Sunlan lighting next to a bar we went to that specializes only in light bulbs

After a much too late dinner outside Tiga where we ate a meal of delicious couscous, veggies and pulled chicken, there were three lovely people singing out of theSacred Harp. It was so random and unexpected and their voices were as raw and dreamy as dreamy could be. Obvs this picture doesn't do anything any justice but it will at least remind me of what I heard. Wished that my phone had video to capture it a bit more for reals....Somehow tonight twin flames came into discussion at the table, this link couldn't be more embarrassing but explains the out there concept- anyways, after a quick text to Andrea who is familiar with the topic, she sent me her favorite twin flames image that she seemed to have on hand. Wow.And, my oldest friend from forever ago Seyta, my hostess here in Portland not only has the most amazing custom hats from a local milliner as well as the most beautiful classy shoe collection but shared with me the most incredible perfume ((I am more interested in the story then the scent)) called Josephine she got at the Perfume House which is right around the corner from her home, that has an amazingly romantic story ".......Le VanquerNapoleon and Josephine. Before his coronation in 1804, Napoleon approached master perfumer Francois Rance and commissioned him to make two scents, one for himself and one for Josephine. The perfumes were designed so that if Napoleon and Josephine were in the same room, her scent would dominate, but if the two came together, the two perfumes would merge to create a whole new unique fragrance. Napoleon made a rule for the perfume to not be released for 200 years after the coronation."

Monday, January 12, 2009

Today besides my normal intake of water I drank a weird amount of bevies in this order all before going out to dinner:1 cup of coffee1 horseradish infused bloody mary1 cup of coffee1 iced americano1 glass of guava *kombucha

*side note: In Olympia there is a resturant called Quality Burrito that has these amazing cocktails made with home-grown Kombucha. Never expected I would drink a Makers and kombucha on ice with a twist of lemon.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Not sure what it was tonight that made me think of living in New Orleans for a hot second oh so long ago. New Orleans has it's untellable stories as well as the hazy memories and the epic tales, one of which is my expierence with the following-

On a visit there pre-living in the city I had the luck of being taken to Ernie-K-Doe's Mother In Law Lounge. This was in 1999 or 2000 just a few years before K-Doe's death in 2001. The bar, from my understanding was run by K-Doe and his wife, who's name I believe is Queenie. All I knew about Ernie-K-Doe was that he had the hit "Mother In Law" that was popular, a #1 chart buster in fact, in the 1960's. I had no idea what to expect at this spot except that he may be there playing music.

A bunch of us rode our bikes there. The outside looked like not much but had this epic mural of K-Doe, his wife, Quintron and his wife Miss Pussycat painted on the side. We totally lucked out that night and K-Doe himself was there playing music with a back up band of three other gentleman. This is one of my all time favorite pictures that I have captured in my life- sorts timeless no?

In 2002 I moved to NOLA for a short 4 month stint that spanned not only Christmas but New Years and Mardi Gras. By this time K-Doe had passed away. However, I was at one of the most bizarre parities I will ever attend, for Mardi Gras of course, at the Spellcaster Lounge (home of Quintron and Miss Pussycat). To set the scene, Queenie, K-Doe's widow, an elderly African-American woman, was bartending in full white face in a tight Elvis Presley costume with a huge pompadour. The party was in full effect with the most mixed crowd of people I have ever been around- really, all walks of life. All. There was a ton of bands playing and it must of been close to 4 or 5am when I had the awesome experience of seeing a bangin' basement performance of downsouth bounce king DJ Jubilee. It was insane, and let me tell you, he did not hold back with it his old school hit "Do The Jubilee All". There is nothing like a proper New Orleans party, in a basement, to make a girl want to keep living.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Drove into the burbs to my dad's house through pools of standing water on the freeway- totally insane. There is so much standing water the freeway's are closed in certain spots and I had to cancel my Vancouver book signing today, which was actually a relief since I get to skip the two way 3+ hour drive. It's always nice to come home to the Northwest even if I forgot my new rain boots. I packed my suitcase with my head in the clouds yesterday.....

Some crappy iphone pictures of the past 24 hours:

Slept in today, then started the day with fresh carrot and apple juice at dad's house, a trip to the coffee shop (where I took a photo of the flyer below) and then straight to a local winery for a tasting. Merlin knows how to live.

Hello.Over the past 10 years I've used this blog for various purposes. Before I had a website or instagram existed it provided me a home base for my photographs, acting as the core method of communication. I've also used it as a way to keep track of projects, events and places I am visiting.

Now that I'm not on the go as much I post less frequently, but will continue to make updates when I feel inspired.